Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon joined John in the studio for their regular catchup.

They discussed the key issues facing the district, including managing fast-track developments, the council's amalgamation plans, and proposals to reduce speed limits on sections of Leeston Road from 100km/h, which have faced significant opposition from local residents.

LISTEN ABOVE

Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon joined John in the studio for their regular catchup.
They discussed the key issues facing the district, including managing fast-track developments, the council's amalgamation plans, and proposals to reduce speed limits on sections of Leeston Road from 100km/h, which have faced significant opposition from local residents.
LISTEN ABOVE

Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays.

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Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings 9am-12pm with John MacDonald on 100.1FM and iHeartRadio.

Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays. It’s all about the conversation with John, as he gets right into the things that get our community talking. If it’s news you’re after, backing John is the combined power of the Newstalk ZB and New Zealand Herald news teams. Meaning when it comes to covering breaking news – you will not beat local radio. With two decades experience in communications based in Christchurch, John also has a deep understanding of and connections to the Christchurch and Canterbury commercial sector. Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings 9am-12pm with John MacDonald on 100.1FM and iHeartRadio.

Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays.It’s all about the conversation with John, as he gets right into the things that get our community talking.

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon on amalgamation, Rolleston's growth & wanting a pause on fast track

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/ae2ad0b0-25ca-462f-831f-b4b800017437/transcript

You know how we’ve been saying for ages how much of a problem e-scooters, in particular, are?

How we’ve been saying for ages that, in the wrong hands, they’re death traps? How we’ve said all that, but we’ve done absolutely nothing about it?

I reckon we need to be looking at what they’re doing over in Queensland right now. And I think we should do the same.

Because, as of this week, Queensland is the first state in Australia - and one of the very, very few jurisdictions anywhere in the world - to set age limits and licensing requirements for e-bike and e-scooter riders.

Which is a brilliant move.

As of this week, in Queensland, anyone wanting to ride an e-scooter or e-bike on their own needs to be 16 and, at the very least, have a learners driver’s licence.

As of this week, in Queensland, there is a new speed limit for e-scooters - 12 kilometres per hour near pedestrians.

And because people will now need at least their learners licence to use these things in public, the police in Queensland have a lot more power to intervene when someone’s being a muppet.

So, when they’re breaking the speed limit, the cops can now stop them and fine them.

If they’re under-16 or if they don’t have a licence, the cops can ping them.

If they’re riding an e-scooter or an e-bike drunk, they can be done for it.

What’s more, the parents of any kids in Queensland caught breaking these new rules can be fined.

They’re doing this over there because people have had a gutsful of e-scooters, e-bikes and those electric dirt bikes.

But we have too, haven’t we? And we’re not imagining how much of a problem they’ve become. Especially the e-scooters.

Between 2022 and January this year, ACC claims for e-scooter crashes totalled $49,580,000. On average, that’s $12.5 million a year.

What you don’t get from those figures is the ongoing consequences of those injuries.

The numbers show too why what Australia is doing with its age limit makes sense and why we need to do the same here.

Over the last two years, there have been 3,090 e-scooter ACC claims from teenagers. Last year, here in New Zealand, 10-to-19-year-olds were the most crash-prone e-scooter riders.

You might have noticed that I said crash-prone, not accident-prone. Because most e-scooter injuries are avoidable. They’re not accidents.

That’s because of the way people use these things. Especially, the hire scooters.

Which, by the way, do require people to verify that they’re over 18 before using them. But we know that a lot of kids just use their parents' details to get around that.

Besides which, putting it on the scooter operators makes no sense. Which is why I think it would be an absolutely no-brainer to do what they’re doing in Queensland.

LISTEN ABOVE

You know how we’ve been saying for ages how much of a problem e-scooters, in particular, are?
How we’ve been saying for ages that, in the wrong hands, they’re death traps? How we’ve said all that, but we’ve done absolutely nothing about it?
I reckon we need to be looking at what they’re doing over in Queensland right now. And I think we should do the same.
Because, as of this week, Queensland is the first state in Australia - and one of the very, very few jurisdictions anywhere in the world - to set age limits and licensing requirements for e-bike and e-scooter riders.
Which is a brilliant move.
As of this week, in Queensland, anyone wanting to ride an e-scooter or e-bike on their own needs to be 16 and, at the very least, have a learners driver’s licence.
As of this week, in Queensland, there is a new speed limit for e-scooters - 12 kilometres per hour near pedestrians.
And because people will now need at least their learners licence to use these things in public, the police in Queensland have a lot more power to intervene when someone’s being a muppet.
So, when they’re breaking the speed limit, the cops can now stop them and fine them.
If they’re under-16 or if they don’t have a licence, the cops can ping them.
If they’re riding an e-scooter or an e-bike drunk, they can be done for it.
What’s more, the parents of any kids in Queensland caught breaking these new rules can be fined.
They’re doing this over there because people have had a gutsful of e-scooters, e-bikes and those electric dirt bikes.
But we have too, haven’t we? And we’re not imagining how much of a problem they’ve become. Especially the e-scooters.
Between 2022 and January this year, ACC claims for e-scooter crashes totalled $49,580,000. On average, that’s $12.5 million a year.
What you don’t get from those figures is the ongoing consequences of those injuries.
The numbers show too why what Australia is doing with its age limit makes sense and why we need to do the same here.
Over the last two years, there have been 3,090 e-scooter ACC claims from teenagers. Last year, here in New Zealand, 10-to-19-year-olds were the most crash-prone e-scooter riders.
You might have noticed that I said crash-prone, not accident-prone. Because most e-scooter injuries are avoidable. They’re not accidents.
That’s because of the way people use these things. Especially, the hire scooters.
Which, by the way, do require people to verify that they’re over 18 before using them. But we know that a lot of kids just use their parents' details to get around that.
Besides which, putting it on the scooter operators makes no sense. Which is why I think it would be an absolutely no-brainer to do what they’re doing in Queensland.
LISTEN ABOVE

John MacDonald: Queensland's answer to NZ's e-scooter problem

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/8dbd923d-6f29-49fb-be57-b4b800070066/transcript

Instead of cracking down on New Zealanders with student debt living overseas, we should be making things easier for them. Especially, if we want them to come back.

Tell that to the National Party, though. Which has announced that, if it forms the next government, it will be going after graduates overseas with student loans and doing nothing about it.

The ones who account for 93 percent of the student debt that needs to be paid back.

National is promising to make life a bit easier for graduates living here. Giving them more time to pay off their loan with lower repayment rates.

But the ones overseas will face higher interest and tougher penalties if they don’t pay it back when they should.

Which makes no sense to me. Especially, if we want to get these people back to New Zealand.

How the system works, is that anyone with a student loan who moves to another country gets hit with interest. Which means more debt to pay-off.

If you’ve graduated and you’ve got a student loan to pay off and you’re in New Zealand, no interest. But the minute you go overseas to live, the interest starts getting added. And you’re expected to make two lump-sum payments every year.

Not everyone does, though. And these are the ones National has in its sights.

With Nicola Willis saying the taxpayer has subsidised their education and, if they choose not to use their skills to contribute to New Zealand society, then two things are needed: they need to pay more for the privilege of the taxpayer subsidising them and there needs to be consequences if they don’t follow the rules.

I agree there needs to be consequences for not paying it back. Because a loan is a loan. But what National is proposing isn’t the answer.

Because this so-called crackdown won’t do anything for the New Zealanders overseas who are way behind in their student loan payments and are too scared to set foot here because they think they’ll be arrested at the border.

It’s crazy to get all hardcore on it when some people are already too scared to come back.

The thing is, too, it’s all very well going overseas. But that doesn’t mean people walk into well-paying jobs. The grass doesn’t always turn out to be greener.

Which is why I think a much better approach would be to be a bit flexible with these people.

What would be wrong, for example, with IRD talking to them and seeing if they might qualify for some grace on the basis of hardship? Or agreeing to letting them come back, pay a few hundred bucks for a start and see how it goes.

I wouldn’t have any problem with that. Because what would you rather have? These people stuck overseas owing all this money? Or would you rather they were here using their skills and knowledge and making a genuine contribution to the country?

LISTEN ABOVE

Instead of cracking down on New Zealanders with student debt living overseas, we should be making things easier for them. Especially, if we want them to come back.
Tell that to the National Party, though. Which has announced that, if it forms the next government, it will be going after graduates overseas with student loans and doing nothing about it.
The ones who account for 93 percent of the student debt that needs to be paid back.
National is promising to make life a bit easier for graduates living here. Giving them more time to pay off their loan with lower repayment rates.
But the ones overseas will face higher interest and tougher penalties if they don’t pay it back when they should.
Which makes no sense to me. Especially, if we want to get these people back to New Zealand.
How the system works, is that anyone with a student loan who moves to another country gets hit with interest. Which means more debt to pay-off.
If you’ve graduated and you’ve got a student loan to pay off and you’re in New Zealand, no interest. But the minute you go overseas to live, the interest starts getting added. And you’re expected to make two lump-sum payments every year.
Not everyone does, though. And these are the ones National has in its sights.
With Nicola Willis saying the taxpayer has subsidised their education and, if they choose not to use their skills to contribute to New Zealand society, then two things are needed: they need to pay more for the privilege of the taxpayer subsidising them and there needs to be consequences if they don’t follow the rules.
I agree there needs to be consequences for not paying it back. Because a loan is a loan. But what National is proposing isn’t the answer.
Because this so-called crackdown won’t do anything for the New Zealanders overseas who are way behind in their student loan payments and are too scared to set foot here because they think they’ll be arrested at the border.
It’s crazy to get all hardcore on it when some people are already too scared to come back.
The thing is, too, it’s all very well going overseas. But that doesn’t mean people walk into well-paying jobs. The grass doesn’t always turn out to be greener.
Which is why I think a much better approach would be to be a bit flexible with these people.
What would be wrong, for example, with IRD talking to them and seeing if they might qualify for some grace on the basis of hardship? Or agreeing to letting them come back, pay a few hundred bucks for a start and see how it goes.
I wouldn’t have any problem with that. Because what would you rather have? These people stuck overseas owing all this money? Or would you rather they were here using their skills and knowledge and making a genuine contribution to the country?
LISTEN ABOVE

John MacDonald: Student loans should be paid back, but is this the solution?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/3a5343d9-462e-4ba1-b8b8-b4b700093b9b/transcript

Anyone celebrating that ruling by MBIE last week about one apartment in central Christchurch not being suitable for Airbnb accommodation needs to put the bubbly back on the ice.

Because this Air BnB scourge in Christchurch isn’t going away anytime soon. With a block of 24 new apartments, on Madras Street in the East Frame area of central Christchurch, that was supposed to be used for residential housing, being sold to one Airbnb operator.

The sale hasn’t happened yet. But the crowd building the apartments, Fletcher Living, is looking for an investor to buy the three-storey block holus-bolus. The price for all 24 apartments is thought to be somewhere between $12 million and $15 million.

Which is a price bracket that would enable an investor from overseas to buy it.

What really sticks in my claw, is that this development is happening in what became known as the East Frame area after the earthquakes. Which was a key development designed to get more people living in the central city.

Not having a one-night holiday in the central city. Living in the central city.

The specific area where this development is happening is on land bought by the Crown after the quakes, on Madras Street, near the Margaret Mahy Playground.

A local lobby group isn’t happy that people won’t be able to buy the apartments to live in, saying it would be better than having them sitting empty most of the time.

Would it ever.

A nearby resident is saying today too that this bulk sale of these 24 apartments is “outrageous” and will only make the area feel more lonely for people, like her, who live in the area.

People who have been saying for some time now that they’re finding themselves living in ghost neighbourhoods, with all these Airbnbs around them.

In one new development, residents say about 80 percent of the places have become Airbnb-type properties.

At another one, on the corner of Kilmore and Manchester Streets, there are 25 new townhouses and the people living there reckon only four of them appear to be occupied by long-term residents.

Which has them feeling like they’re living in a “pretend neighbourhood”. And they’re not imagining it.

We found out recently that, in the last year, 484 new homes were built in the central city, but the number of people living permanently in the area in that same period has only increased by 50.

That’s less than 1 percent growth in the number of people living in the centre of town. Which isn’t going to improve with Fletcher Living now selling what is effectively going to be a 24-room virtual hotel.

Councillor Yani Johanson says: “How do you build communities when you’ve got so much short-stay accommodation?”

The answer to that is, you don’t.

LISTEN ABOVE

Anyone celebrating that ruling by MBIE last week about one apartment in central Christchurch not being suitable for Airbnb accommodation needs to put the bubbly back on the ice.
Because this Air BnB scourge in Christchurch isn’t going away anytime soon. With a block of 24 new apartments, on Madras Street in the East Frame area of central Christchurch, that was supposed to be used for residential housing, being sold to one Airbnb operator.
The sale hasn’t happened yet. But the crowd building the apartments, Fletcher Living, is looking for an investor to buy the three-storey block holus-bolus. The price for all 24 apartments is thought to be somewhere between $12 million and $15 million.
Which is a price bracket that would enable an investor from overseas to buy it.
What really sticks in my claw, is that this development is happening in what became known as the East Frame area after the earthquakes. Which was a key development designed to get more people living in the central city.
Not having a one-night holiday in the central city. Living in the central city.
The specific area where this development is happening is on land bought by the Crown after the quakes, on Madras Street, near the Margaret Mahy Playground.
A local lobby group isn’t happy that people won’t be able to buy the apartments to live in, saying it would be better than having them sitting empty most of the time.
Would it ever.
A nearby resident is saying today too that this bulk sale of these 24 apartments is “outrageous” and will only make the area feel more lonely for people, like her, who live in the area.
People who have been saying for some time now that they’re finding themselves living in ghost neighbourhoods, with all these Airbnbs around them.
In one new development, residents say about 80 percent of the places have become Airbnb-type properties.
At another one, on the corner of Kilmore and Manchester Streets, there are 25 new townhouses and the people living there reckon only four of them appear to be occupied by long-term residents.
Which has them feeling like they’re living in a “pretend neighbourhood”. And they’re not imagining it.
We found out recently that, in the last year, 484 new homes were built in the central city, but the number of people living permanently in the area in that same period has only increased by 50.
That’s less than 1 percent growth in the number of people living in the centre of town. Which isn’t going to improve with Fletcher Living now selling what is effectively going to be a 24-room virtual hotel.
Councillor Yani Johanson says: “How do you build communities when you’ve got so much short-stay accommodation?”
The answer to that is, you don’t.
LISTEN ABOVE

John MacDonald: Christchurch's Airbnb scourge isn't going away

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/e8a6eca2-5f8a-4743-92a4-b4b40009dfcd/transcript

Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon on amalgamation, Rolleston's growth & wanting a pause on fast track

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